


Considering Everything

by thelittlehobbit



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: Eventual Fucking, Eventual deeper romance, F/M, Mostly exploration of how Gerri got to this place in life, kind of romance, succession
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21536716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittlehobbit/pseuds/thelittlehobbit
Summary: Considering everything Gerri Kellman has worked for, she never thought she would be on a yacht deciding her fate with Waystar Royco. She never thought she would find herself in a business-sex mentoring role. And most of all, she never thought she would consider a marriage proposal from Roman Roy. And yet here she was doing all three of those things.
Relationships: Gerri Kellman/Roman "Romulus" Roy
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	1. Considering Where We Began

**Author's Note:**

> God, I haven't written fic in a while. This is likely not finished, and it was not beta read. Have mercy!

Gerri Kellman never imagined finding herself on a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean helping to decide the fated person who would take the fall for a multi-billion-dollar corporation at this point in her life.

When she started at law school, her goals were to make it through the corporate world relatively un-harassed and retire with deep pockets. She had had a husband she was fond of and a career that put her in some of the most affluent rooms in the media business. But then her husband had died, and the career had consumed her and suddenly any room she was in was affluent. Because of that, Gerri was looking down the barrel of taking the fall for a family business that she had given everything for and more. Logon Roy knew most of all how much she had given for him, how hard she worked to put the right people in the right places to smooth out wrinkles in Waystar Royco. She was the hot iron, wielded by Logan’s hand, to create a legacy that was never meant for her.

Which amused Gerri. While she was no domestic goddess, she sure cleaned up house around Waystar.

And took care of the children, it seemed. Kendell was beyond her help at this point, and Shiv never listened to her much other than the sound advice she gave her as a child: This business will eat a woman up and spit her back out at the end like a piece of chewed-up bone. If you can do anything else, go for it. And she did for a time until Logan reeled her in with the promise of CEO.

But it was the often-overlooked middle child, Roman, who held her interest these days. He had an instinct and business savvy enough but missing the seriousness and experience to do well in the big office. A few more years in the rock tumbler of Waystar and he might have come out a shining candidate for CEO. And of course, some grooming by her hand. She was pleased to have started the vetting process and had paid more positive attention to him the past few months than Logan had his whole life. Or at least had given him attention he responded well towards.

This is why she should not have been so surprised the first night he had called her from Management Training and jerked off in bed like some teenager with his first crush.

The phone calls continued sporadically, but regular enough to concern Gerri about Roman’s dependency issues. It was clear to her that he might not suffer from substance abuse like some of his siblings, but the way he had her on speed dial was a different kind of addiction. He needed to learn to stand on his own two legs in this business world. Somehow this business-sexual mentorship worked for them. For the time being. She kept him at an arm’s length and a door or phone between them or sidled up to him in public places to give him tips on what was coming down the Waystar pipeline that he could jump on. He surprised her by not fucking up his lead with Eduard and the Turkey money.

And then there was the heart-stopping notification while they were in DC handling the congressional hearings that Romulus Roy had been taken hostage while trying to secure the future of Waystar. She let the siblings break the news to Logan, but she had still had to tell Shiv and Kendall. Shiv took it as best the young woman could, immediately tearing up, while Kendall just nodded and started talking through scenarios for how this could play out with no one in particular.

Gerri did not get upset by the news until she was safely in her hotel for the evening. She had a bottle of vodka sent up and didn’t use a glass to drink half the bottle while going over all their previous interactions. Had she steered him in the right direction with this venture? Would he have the tools to talk himself out of this situation or would her meddling cost him his life?

The moment she got the notification in the morning that he was safe in the hands of the US embassy, she was practically running to knock on Logan’s door. No one but the boy’s father would ever know about the slightly excited breathlessness that was in her voice when she gave him the news, practically sagging in his door with relief.

Soon enough they were all on the family vacation on the yacht in the beautiful Mediterranean, Roman sauntering onto the boat with a little less pomp than usual. The insult she threw at him as he boarded the yacht lingered in the air like a promise. He skulked to her side eventually in the afternoon, doing everything he could to casually brush his arm against her hip as he teased Frank and Carl about the odds of them being the Cruises Fiasco Sacrifice.

What surprised her most about the yacht trip was the conspicuously missing tall blonde bisexual that tailed Roman around on most trips. Gerri was sure that she would meet Roman here and tend his wounded soul after the hostage situation or whatever. Which reminded her to use Tabitha as fodder for one of their future phone calls.

Roman was acting with more sense than she was used to him acting with. He had told his father honestly about the acquisition and what his gut was telling him about the relationship, and he was sticking to his guns on why they should turn the money down. Perhaps there was more hope for him than she had originally thought when she began coaching him more regularly.

When everyone was winding down from their first day on the yacht, Gerri was not surprised by the eventual knock on her suite door. She opened it carefully with a drink in hand, seeing a very tired Roman. It was if he had spent all his energy for the day on keeping his shit together while dealing with his family, and now he was spent but didn’t want to be alone.

“You look like shit.” She said while stepping aside for him to enter her room. If she remembered correctly on her first tour of the ship years before Marcia had redesigned it with a teak deck, Roman was in one of the suite rooms on the deck above.

He went straight for the window to check her view, looking out over the water as they floated in the clear blue sea near Croatia.

“Can you believe how tense all these fuckers have been today? You would think none of them have been held hostage by a tyrant before,” Roman turned to scrutinize Gerri as he spoke. She wondered if he could read the strain in her spine as easily as she could see the lifeless motions he was making with his body, “Don’t tell me you’re feeling the pressure too?”

She squinted at him, pulling the thin shawl she was wearing tighter around her shoulders, “If pressure you mean urge to start throwing people overboard, then yes. Otherwise, I have to trust that I am too important a canary to have singing if this company tries to sell me out.”

“That sounds like a threat against my family, Mrs. Kellman. I am not sure if my dad should trust you.” The banter was familiar to them, easy to fall into. It was a way for her to wrap a sense of familiar comfort around Roman without getting too close.

“He does trust me and that’s not the problem. And you do too, Roman Roy. Don’t forget that,” She watched him stalk around the room. He did this whenever he entered her space. Roman had a haphazard way of inspecting the room she was in, simultaneously overwhelming her personal space but never physically touching her. “The problem we are looking to answer is whose name are we going to put forward tomorrow morning to your father.”

"Well, that’s obvious. Besides you,” he had made his way to the table where the bottle of vodka she was drinking from was sitting with near a spare glass. In a very Roman style, he gestured toward her as he poured, “Perhaps we should put Tom forward. Really fuck up Shiv’s power-hungry grab into the company she hasn’t cared about her whole life. For fuck’s sake, she hasn’t spent an official day working with us. How did she think she was going to take over?”

“Tom could be possible. We could work the cruises angle on him. Dig up something from parks if necessary. He is a right asshole and I do not mind discarding him from the company. We could also oust Frank or Jamie. Pin something on them,” Gerri sipped her drink, waiting for the gears to turn in Roman’s head, “As General Counsel, I am sure whatever we come up with tonight, I can find something to go with it to pin someone down and have this confess.”

“That sounds enticing. Almost makes me want to take the fall just to have the pleasure of being pinned down by you and forced to confess,” Roman sipped his drink to hide a tired grin.

“I was thinking it would be more like the excruciating death a butterfly experiences being pinned by a collector,” Gerri twisted her glass idly in her hands, no bite to her words. She made a quick choice to not jump into their little game tonight. Roman was clearly not up for it despite his egging her on.

“Not nearly as sexy.” Roman pouted, but his gaze was still steady on her. It was amazing how still he got when he was seriously considering her words. The gears were turning in his head but rather he was considering names and scenarios for the company or ways to get her to scold him, she was not quite sure.

“I do not think tonight would be good for one of our phone calls,” She spoke softly, watching him orbit closer to her, “It’s been a long day and longer week for you.”

“I am not some boy who needs a nap after every traumatic event,” he grumbled, shoulders slumping in defeat or relief, Gerri was not sure which. Both expressions looked the same in Roman most days. For once, he looked his own size of a person. Not some boy in over his head with the company, or a man-child trying to make himself seem serious. Just Roman, barefoot and standing in the middle of her room having made the right moves and overwhelmed if his next one would be too.

“You might not, but I am going to try and get some rest despite the situation. We need to be well-rested for tomorrow and whatever it brings.” She briefly wonders if she should extend an olive branch to him to stay but shoves the notion aside.

Roman nods, moving past her toward the door. “Have you considered my offer? The one from Dundee?” He pauses by the door, hovering if he needs to make a quick escape. Gerri stares at him, wondering once again how serious he is being.

“Excuse me?”

“You know the one? How we either marry or murder each other? Forget I said anything. Well, don’t forget. But consider it. I’ll go.”

“I have not forgotten, but I did not think you were serious.” She faces him full-on, unsure of what to do with her hands. Gerri is rarely ever unsure, even when it comes to Roman.

“Well, I am and considering tomorrow I want to, you know, make sure you are taken care of. They can’t touch you. None of them can,” he nodded at her, “We can peg any of the other fuckers on this boat with the mess, but I will make sure you do not get fucked.”

“That is kind of you Roman,” Gerri said softly.

“I guess I wanted to make that clear. Before, you know, tomorrow.” Roman had a hand on the door, clearly uncomfortable with the vulnerability but unsure if his flight or fight instincts were going to kick in.

“Thank you.” She flashed a smile at him, just a quick upturn of her lips, “Now, stop loitering and go to bed. The fun starts in the morning.”

“Right. Goodnight, Mole Woman.” He opened the door as she came up to close it after him.

“Goodnight Rock star,” this time when she smiled, it was genuine as she shooed him out of her room for the night.


	2. Considering How To Go Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How does Gerri respond after Kendall's press conference? What was Roman up to the night before? And why do they keep Greg around?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been a minute folks. Maybe chapter 3 will come out before season 3 does.

Gerri slammed into Roman’s room as soon as she was done speaking with an eerily calm Logan Roy. She was sure the anger would erupt soon, after he had come to terms with the way his son was throwing him completely under the bus. But for now, Roman had avoided her last night after the announcement was made he would be COO on his own and his brother was signing away his professional life. She waited in her room for him to come to her, to debrief the day because that was the way they played their game. When he never showed, she went and knocked on his door only to find his cabin empty.

If Gerri was a more vain woman, she might have thought he was ghosting her. Gerri was not a vain woman, however, and she went back to her cabin to try and sleep. She didn’t need to watch vigil as Kendall made the long march to the electric chair in the morning. Karolina was on the ground with Kendall on this one.

The yacht had drifted into a service area by morning, and everyone was glued to a device. Gerri was flipping between emails and waiting for the press conference to take hold when she heard a commotion from around the boat. She had been in the middle of catching up on a very particular sticky situation in parks when she flipped back quickly to the press conference to hear Kendall drag Logan into the mud of this situation, claiming he had evidence. As far as Gerri had known, all of Waystar’s evidence had been disposed of, and they were just dealing with a few isolated instances where people weren’t holding to their NDAs.

“Okay, so that didn’t go as planned.” She announced to no one in particular, cleaning up her spot near the breakfast table to rush to Logan. Gerri approached from a direction that happened to catch his eye, nodding at his wave to enter. Roman and Shiv seemed to be hovering around, stunned, talking some nonsense about how they couldn’t believe their brother.

“What are our options, Gerri?” Logan bowled over the two siblings as though they were inept underlings. Gerri had been considering this very question in the few short minutes she had between seeing the video and hurrying here.

“Well, we can deny it fully, but I think that’s a moot point after this.” She shrugged, “Our best option might be to say it was a different time, and we’re trying to hold ourselves to better standards going forward. Hashtag Me Too and all that. After this move from Kendall, we can’t deny it. But spinning the story might be the best option at this point. We need to see the documents he has before knowing what we need to admit to.” Logan hadn’t gotten up, and while he was still a force in the room, his energy level hadn’t risen to the temper Gerri was accustomed to when dealt this shitty of a hand.

“There is one possibility you didn’t say. I could admit to it all and take the hit for my company.” There was silence in the room after Logan’s pronouncement, Shiv and Roman exchanging a startled look, Roman finally looking to Gerri with wide eyes as though he wasn’t sure this was what he wanted. Despite all the work they had put in.

“Don’t do that dad. Ken never follows through with this shit. He’ll come back into the fold without dropping this information, I’m sure.” Shiv reached over to take her father’s hand, and if Gerri didn’t know better, suspected she was playing at being the attentive daughter that she never grew into.

“Yeah dad, I’ll go make calls to Karolina and see what we can do to triage this situation.” Roman stepped up, trying to live into his new role of COO, “There has to be a way we can prevent him from leaking anything, even with this press conference out there already.” Roman shoved off the back of the couch, twiddling his fingers toward his dad as he made his way toward the deck while texting furiously.

That was the last she was in the same room as him for a few hours while she stuck with Logan, the other voyagers on the boat joining them at one point or another while she corresponded with Karolina, the rest of the general council team, and fielded internal questions. This was not the time to have a snowball of Waystar sexual assault allegations to take off down the hill while Kendall was on this newest rampage, most likely to be picked up by every news media outlet until the next big scandal erupted. It wasn’t as though her hands were truly clean. Working for a large corporation as General counsel for over 20 years meant she knew were several of the dead bodies were buried, and how to write an airtight NDA.

When Logan finally dismissed everyone to consider his options alone, Gerri didn’t give a moment’s thought to anyone else but to go find her would-be partner in running this business. His body language had been too relaxed and not as cagey as it should have been when his brother had essentially tanked the company with his announcement. And that he hadn’t come right back, and Shiv had disappeared after a while was suspicious.

“Roman, what did you do?” She demanded as soon as she saw he was alone in his room. Her hands went to rest on her hips as she stared him down from where he stood. His hands were up immediately, eyes wide, “If you’re about to bullshit me, I have no patience for it. What Kendall did put all our hard work at risk. If I’m implicated in the cruises scandal as general counsel, we’re through. I am out of the company, most likely sent off to prison with Logan. You realize that?”

His eyes softened, Roman beginning his favorite pacing practice, “We thought it would be for the best if we placed sole blame on dad, and perhaps drag in a few others but not you. I was very clear that anything with your name on it shouldn’t be released,” he began rambling, only telling half a story that Gerri was getting frustrated trying to put together.

“We? We who?” She crossed to a chair out of Roman’s flight path, trying to tamp down a rising panic as she listened to his explanation.

“Kendall, Shiv, and me. For once in her ferret faced life, Shiv decided she wanted to protect us. Apparently, this cruise and watching dad sabotage his kids again doesn’t sit right with her, and she’s ready to take him out all the way. So, she decided to play nice with her brothers and squeeze some secrets out of Tom and Greg.”

“Secrets? I understand why Tom might know some things, but Greg? What does he have to do with any of this? I thought the protocol was to keep his foolishness away from important company business?” Gerri pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing they were in her room near her headache medicine. This was a long day just made longer by Roman’s admission.

“Well, Greggles happens to have a strong sense of self-preservation that encourages him to hold onto paperwork that should be destroyed and taking notes whenever he sees us having a meeting he doesn’t understand. Then he gets butt fucked by Tom and spills all his secrets, who then goes and gets fucked by Shiv who decided to finally share her findings with her family.”

“And did you see these documents, or take their word it would be a fucking fairy tale ending by killing the big bad wolf?” Gerri tapped her fingers against the armrest, noticing the way it kept drawing Roman’s attention. She wasn’t sure if she was elated he was taking some sensible steps for his future or terrified he might have just helped release documents that would land her in prison.

One never really knew how things would go with the Roys.

“No, but between Shiv and Tom, I have assurances that we will be fine.” Roman pleaded, sensing her ire, “We haven’t released the papers but I can get you a copy. We’re trying to keep them secure while we wait to see what dad’s move will be.”

“That’s smart, but what isn’t smart is that none of you seemed to have consulted your lawyers, and you, Roman, didn’t consult me. I could have guided you away from this catastrophe as much as possible, but now we’re just waiting for Logan to volley back whatever he comes up with.” She sighed, finally becoming conscious of the tension that had knit its way into her shoulders through today.

Roman gazed at her nervously, but she could see him trying to rub the two brain cells he possessed to produce something smart to say rather than fumbling with panic to appease her. Gerri wishes she had intercepted him the night before. Somehow been in on this scheme. She hated being out of the loop.

“How was he, when we left?” Roman asked. She watched him try to stay his fidgeting. His mannerisms had changed slightly since she had seen him on the yacht. Yes, he still had his nervous ticks, but they are more muted since the hostage situation.

“Too calm, I think. If Kendall had done this a year ago or even six months ago, we would all be fucked. But something is off. He almost looked proud of Ken” Gerri sighed.

“Yeah, that’s never good with daddy dearest. He’s more dangerous when he’s quiet,” Roman finally settled on the edge of his bed, hands gripping his thighs. “I am serious, I can have Shiv get us copies of all the paperwork to go through before we release it.” He would not meet her eyes as he spoke.

“Yes, I want the materials. What is the timeline for release? What did you and your siblings decide in your Roy circle-jerk last night? You need to go through all this from the beginning with me, Roman.” Gerri waited patiently while he started recalling the not so subtle gestures his sister flashed him as dinner wrapped up the previous night, leading him to Kendall as they stole him for the night to talk through options. How they had first corralled Tom in, who eventually spilled what they needed to pin Greg down with pointed questions. Greg, the awkwardly tall cousin who everyone enjoyed alternating harassing and ignoring. When his tale was done, Gerri let out a long breath.

“Gerri, I…” Roman took a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself to say something difficult, “Listen, I thought this would be good. For you. For us. You are always so in charge and I’m clearly a waste of space with my dick in my hand ninety-nine percent of the time. But this thing with my siblings and Tom and Greg was something I could weasel out of them for you. And then the plan came together so quickly and it was late. I didn’t want to wake you. Which is all just some fucking excuses for being bad at communicating. Can you at least get it that I did my best to make sure we didn’t fuck you in all this?”

Gerri’s face softened slightly at his confession, “I can believe you tried your best, but you don’t have the best track record which is why we are a better team than you flying solo by the seed of your pants. I hate that we have to rely on Greg for this. But these documents sound like a gift dropped into our laps. Now we just have to hope that no one fucks this up like the last several attempts to take over the company from your father.” Gerri frowns, already running possibilities for how things could play with all this new information. It was as close to forgiveness as she could give him right now. “when can you get me those documents, Roman? While I’m sure you five think you’ve got an airtight lock on them, there is something to be said for my years of experience combing through.” She pushed herself out of the chair, hoping to end the conversation soon and leave. Despite assurances that Roman perhaps didn’t fuck them over, she was still very annoyed with him.

“I will get right on those documents for you. I’m not sure if we can get them before getting back to New York,” Roman stayed on the other side of the room, watching her warily.

“Good. Until then we should try to stay away from one another. I’m not sure how much your siblings know about whatever this is at this point, and Logan needs to believe I’m with him.” Gerri chewed on her lip, thinking of all the work she needed to do for Logan and make sure her own ass was covered.

“Yes mommy,” he intoned petulantly, “Will you be punishing me for playing with others without you in the meantime? Or will I be rewarded for being clever?” His eyes glinted. Roman was testing the waters of her mood. As much as he was all bluster and confidence having survived being a hostage and making a hard call on the money for his father, insecurity lurked around the corner of his mind ready to cut him at the knees if he thought he failed Gerri.

“If you were clever, we would not have waited this long to release these documents and take this step,” she threw back quickly, “But since you never grew past childish rivalries with your siblings, here we are debating how to best use people’s deaths and sexual assaults as weapons in corporate maneuvers. Not the best use of our energy, but seemingly par for the course around here.”

“So punishment?” Roman stood, stepping closer to her. His eyes were dark as he watched her. Gerri watched him warily, glancing down to catch the slight bulge in his pants. If she was honest with herself, she would like to have him on his knees, her legs over his shoulders squeezing him into her as she put his mouth to productive use, finally.

“I have a feeling any punishment would be far more pleasurable than it should be for your sick little mind.” Her voice was pitched lower, enticing him on unfairly, “Get me those documents before we land in New York, and I’ll think about what punishment would be suitable for such a waste of space with a small dick.”

Roman’s eyes widened with excitement as he took in her words, “Promise?”

“Absolutely not. But I will consider it.” She backed herself up towards the door, her ire cooling with his contrition but Gerri knew she could not muddy the waters with their strange sexual game while so much was at stake. “I’m sure we’ll dock soon. Best pack up.”

Roman didn’t take his eyes off her as she left the room, Gerri doing her best not to glance back at him as she made her way to her own cabin to freshen up and prepare for the day of working while traveling back to New York ahead of her. The time zones meant she was lucky to have more than 24 hours to work within this day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed. Comments are SUPER welcome.


End file.
